Healthy Living: Slow Cooker Lean, Clean Chili

Well-protected by a camouflaging layer of sweaters, jackets and scarves, it’s easy to curl up by the fire and fantasize about cinnamon rolls, baked potato soup, chicken and dumplings, cheesy lasagna and warm apple pie.

However, those aren’t always the healthiest options and can easily result in layers of fat camouflaging lean muscle mass!

It’s often easy to slim down your favorite recipes, like the slow cooker chili. The recipe calls for lean ground beef. I honestly prefer the turkey and have even used ground chicken as well.

One of the keys to this recipe is making sure you drain the fat from the meat, no matter how lean, before adding it to the slow cooker. You won’t have a lot, but it will save calories and fat.

You can also use organic canned beans and tomatoes, if available.

I’ve found this is actually better the second day, so double the recipe if you want an abundance of delicious leftovers.